Community to rise up against domestic violence

Saturday

Feb 9, 2013 at 8:33 PM

For more than 20 years, Denise Kovac buried the trauma of abuse she suffered when she was 19 years old and her husband started beating her.

By Marian RizzoCorrespondent

For more than 20 years, Denise Kovac buried the trauma of abuse she suffered when she was 19 years old and her husband started beating her. Years later, while volunteering at an Ocala domestic violence center, Kovac's nightmare resurfaced and she was able to talk about it. That was the beginning of her emotional healing.

“He threw a metal chair at me with such force it stuck in a cabinet,” Kovac recalled. “I ducked to the floor. He kicked me. He picked me up and banged my head into the refrigerator four or five times. We lived in a third-floor apartment. He threw me down the stairs while the police were coming in. I was in the hospital for a week with cracked ribs, a concussion and a bruised bladder.”

Now 59, Kovac will speak during a One Billion Rising rally on Thursday at the downtown square. She will address early warning signs and stress the importance of getting out of an abusive relationship before it is too late.

Hosted by the Marion County Children's Alliance family violence prevention workgroup, the event is part of a worldwide effort to stop violence against women and children. It is called One Billion Rising in honor of one in three women (or 1 billion in the world) who will be raped or beaten during her lifetime. Now in its 15th year, the rally is held annually on Valentine's Day.

This is the alliance's first year to participate, according to Monica Bryant, the group's family violence prevention coordinator.

“We found out about it a couple weeks ago,” Bryant said. “When I looked at the map and saw that Gainesville, Orlando and Tampa were all doing something, we wanted to do something too.”

The event will include personal testimonies, information tables, a special reading by members of Insomniac Theatre, and a community line dance to the song, “Break the Chain.”

Herran Ybarra, an associate pastor at Meadowbrook Church, also will speak and, at the conclusion, Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair will offer a special challenge.

“Last year, the county had 2,158 reported cases of domestic violence. The city had 651 cases,” Bryant said. “Every time you turn on the TV you see domestic violence homicides, relationships gone bad, a lover's quarrel. We don't call it what it is. We really have to get into the habit of calling it what it is and then stopping it. About 85 percent of our clients are women being abused. If we don't stop this cycle, we're looking at more of what we've seen in the past, and I'm just tired of seeing it.”

Cynthia Turner, co-chair of the event, would like to see a supportive turnout Thursday. As crisis intervention specialist at the Marion County Sheriff's Office, Turner said she has handled far too many cases of domestic violence.

“The problem is people don't break the silence,” she said. “They're living in domestic situations, embarrassed, scared, and don't want to bother other people. They don't think people will believe them.”

Turner also noted there are resources people don't realize are out there. The Sheriff's Office follows up with all cases of violence, domestic and otherwise, sometimes taking victims to shelters or getting placement referrals for children through Kimberly's Center for Child Protection.

“The Domestic Violence Center offers family counseling for victims of domestic violence, man or woman,” said Turner. “A lot of times, when we do follow-up with a man, they don't want to admit to it because they don't want anyone to think they're a weak person.”

Plenty of information and resources will be available at the One Billion Rising event, Turner said.

“It's a long time coming,” she said. “The family violence prevention workgroup is finally getting the word out. We're finally bringing attention to the county that there is a problem and we need to solve it.”